Improvement in carriage-tops



G, F. CANNIFF,S1-.

CARRIAGE TOP. No. 190,549. I Patenged. MayS, 1877.

WITN

6,6! V g sNfNToR N-PETERS, FHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON D C GEORGE F. (JANNIFF, SR, OF OLEVELAND,OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN CARRIAGE-TOPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 190,549, dated May 8, 1877 application filed April 17, 1877.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE E. CANNIFF, Sr., of Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Carriage-Tops; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in carriage-tops; and consists in such a construction that a four-bowed top may be constructwhile but three bows appear at the sides of the seat to be ironed or hinged.

In the drawing, Figure l is a view, in side elevation, of a carriage-top embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the joint or hingewhich I employ in my double or split bow.

A represents any carriage-seat B, any suitable bowirons; and O G, the ordinary bows for carriage-tops. D isa bow, which extends up a suitable distance along the side of thecarriage-top, where it ends as a single piece,

and is divided into two parts, D. These parts are joined to the piece D by the hinges E. The braces F G proceed from the front'bow to the middle, and from thence down to a suitable distance upon the seat A, each brace being broken by suitable joint, in the usual manner. It will be'observed that the joints-or hinges are each provided with a projection or stop, 0, which limits the opening movement of the joint, so that the supplemental or divided bows D can only open to a certain extent. This joint serves at the same time to limit the movement of the bows D, but principally serves to add strength to the carriage-top.

The joints or hinges E may be indefinitely varied without departing from the spirit of my invention, as any joint which is limitedin its opening movement to the proper degree or extent is contemplated in this my invention,

- and I therefore do not wish in anywise to limit myself to the precise construction here shown.

By the construction asabove shown the carriage-top may be laid down in two ways: first, by laying down the long or rear brace. This lets the top half down. Now, it the shorter braces are bent down the top may be made to lie flat, much more so than would be the case if there were four slats or bows, such as O and D, instead of three, as here shown.

I am aware that braces, such as shown at G in the drawings, have been provided with supplemental bows somewhat similar to my bows D; but in the device to which I refer the main bow, instead of being cut off before it is bent, is made continuous from one side of the seat to the other, thereby unnecessa rily increasing the number of the bows in the carriage-top.

An important advantage attained by my construction is the ability to keep the covering of the carriage-top stretched tightly at all times and prevent sagging, especially between the middleandrearbow. Thisisaccomplished by the parallel bows O and D, and by my construction, through actual experiment, I have found that the covering is always kept tight and neat.

What I claim is- 1. In a carriage-top, the bow D, divided in its vertical portions into two supplemental bows, D, said bows being suitablyjointed or GEORGE E. OANNIFF, SR.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS TOUMEY, W. E. DONNELLY. 

